Banned after accusations of abuse, some gymnastics coaches continue to teach

A newspaper clipping featuring Doug Boger, right, with Flairs gymnast Denise Gallion. Gallion said Boger sexually abused her for three years, starting when she was 13.CINDY YAMANAKA/THE REGISTER, PASADENA STAR-NEWS

PASADENA – Charmaine Carnes had only been at Flairs, a Pasadena gymnastics club, a few months in 1978 when she was chosen to ride in the front seat of coach Doug Boger's car.

Carnes beamed as she shut the car door, convinced that the ride with Boger, then 30, to a competition later that day was the first leg of a journey that would make her an Olympian. Instead, Carnes said, Boger took her and many of her Flairs teammates to a much darker place.

"I was 8 or 9, and I remember he had this yellow Mustang and it was an honor if you got to ride with him," Carnes said. "And we would be in the car and it started off with him tickling me, and then I realized he was tickling me in my genitalia and I remember just staring at the gearshift in the car."

Boger's sexual abuse continued for years, Carnes said, escalating to sexual intercourse when she turned 12 and continuing even after he was investigated and acquitted on criminal charges of physical abuse in the 1980s.

Boger, a former U.S. team coach, continues to train young gymnasts today, more than a year after he was permanently banned from USA Gymnastics-affiliated gyms and events following an investigation into allegations by a dozen former female gymnasts of physical and sexual abuse, The Orange County Register has learned.

Had USA Gymnastics conducted an investigation at the time of Boger's 1982 trial, it might have found abuse far beyond what he was charged with by prosecutors. Instead, the governing body did not conduct its own investigation of Boger for another 27 years, until Carnes and nine of her former Flairs teammates, haunted by their past with Boger, finally came forward with their allegations. Even after they came forward, Boger was named a USAG national coach of the year in 2009 and continued to work as a U.S. national team coach at the 2009 World Championships.

When officials did investigate, Boger categorically denied the allegations of sexual and physical abuse in a January 2010 letter.

"It was shocking to read, but those accusations are not true," Boger wrote to USA Gymnastics officials. "They are fiction developed to do harm to my professional career."

Nevertheless, Boger was placed on USA Gymnastics' permanently ineligible list in June 2010. USAG's findings remain confidential, but documents obtained by the Register show he was accused of hitting, kicking, strangling, slapping, burning and sexually abusing underaged gymnasts during the 1970s and early '80s at Flairs.

Today, Boger, 62, continues to work with children at a Colorado Springs gym owned by Michael Zapp, a convicted sex offender. The gym, a 10-minute drive from the U.S. Olympic Committee's headquarters, is not a member of USA Gymnastics.

The 10 women named in the USAG documents, outraged that Boger continues to teach young girls, spoke publicly for the first time to the Register, detailing allegations of abuse in on-the-record interviews. Three of the women said they were sexually abused by Boger. Six also provided copies of statements they sent to USAG investigators.

Boger's 40-year presence in gyms with young girls highlights the culture of a sport that appears to have placed a higher priority on Olympic glory and its own public image than addressing the exploitation of young gymnasts. For years, USA Gymnastics has been slow to investigate abuse allegations and, even after acting, has refused to reveal the reasons why coaches have been placed on the permanently ineligible list.

A string of Olympic triumphs has turned USA Gymnastics, based in Indianapolis, into a global brand generating $20 million in annual revenue and attracting corporate sponsors like Visa, AT&T, Hilton, adidas and NBC. USA Gymnastics has 107,000 athletes and another 20,000 coaches, instructors and gym employees. The organization sanctions 3,500 competitions annually.

But the organization has been more concerned with protecting its brand than protecting its young athletes, former gymnasts say.

"The sport needs to do a better job of protecting the athlete, the most vulnerable," said Kathy Johnson, a silver and bronze medalist at the 1984 Olympic Games.

A newspaper clipping featuring Doug Boger, right, with Flairs gymnast Denise Gallion. Gallion said Boger sexually abused her for three years, starting when she was 13. CINDY YAMANAKA/THE REGISTER, PASADENA STAR-NEWS
Denise Gallion is spotted by Doug Boger on the balance beam in the 1970s. PHOTO COURTESY OF DENISE GALLION, TEXT BY SCOTT M. REID/THE REGISTER
Charmaine Carnes at age nine, as pictured in a Flairs yearbook. RAFAEL BEER
In a Jan. 11, 2010, letter USA Gymnastics President Steve Penny outlined the charges against Doug Boger. “That you engaged in physical abuse of gymnasts, including that you threw or slammed them against objects causing physical injury; hit and kicked them causing physical pain and injury; strangled, grabbed pinned and twisted them; slapped them, dug your nails into them, burned them with cigarettes, threw objects at them, required them to train while injured and required them to try new skills without mats, among other things. The complaints also include allegations that you engaged in mental and verbal abuse as well as sexual abuse,” Penny wrote. TEXT BY SCOTT M. REID/THE REGISTER
In responding to the allegations, Doug Boger presented himself as the victim of a decades-old grudge. TEXT BY SCOTT M. REID/THE REGISTER
Morgan Fleming testified against Doug Boger in a 1982 trial in which he was acquitted on child abuse charges. This picture is from a Flairs yearbook. RAFAEL BEER
Leslee Jewitt told the Register that she lied on Doug Boger's behalf at the 1982 trial. “And in retrospect, I feel responsible," she said. "I feel like I helped derail something that had some merit. He should have been shut down then; should have done some jail time. And I still feel bad about that. Even today.” RAFAEL BEER
Future U.S. and Pan American Games all-around champion Sabrina Mar said she “absolutely dreaded" going to practice. “I'd feign sickness just to get out of going to workouts. My mother would take my temperature and when she walked out of the room, I'd hold the thermometer up to a nightlight, get it to about 102, because that seemed like a believable reading, and stuck it back in my mouth by the time she returned. That's how much I hated going. The only thing I didn't fake was the pre-workout nausea caused by my anxiety. That part was real.” RAFAEL BEER
Amy Moran said Doug Boger once became so enraged at her during a workout that he burned her in the arm with a cigarette. She is frustrated that Boger continues to work with young girls despite being on USA Gymnastics permanently ineligible list. “I just can't believe there is a system where (Boger) is allowed to be with children,” said Moran. “It's really disgusting that his gym can go and compete and get around the rules. Once you find out (about the abuse) you just can't turn your head and say ‘well, we have our policy.'” RAFAEL BEER
Heather Stevenson said Doug Boger's physical abuse resulted in broken ribs. RAFAEL BEER
Julie Whitman said gymnasts were constantly on edge when they arrived at Flairs practices. “Was Doug in a good mood or a bad mood?” Whitman said. “That was always the first question in our minds. Was it going to be a fun workout or a torture session?” RAFAEL BEER
Despite a string of titles, Ronalee Wilson said she dreaded going to gymnastics practice and facing her coach Doug Boger. Here she is pictured in a Flairs yearbook. RAFAEL BEER
Charmaine Carnes, photographed recently, with a sign from Flairs gym. Bob Pennell, For The Register

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